Entertaining Comics was headed by William Gaines but is better known by its publishing name of EC Comics. It was a publisher of comic books specializing in crime, horror, humor, war and science-fiction from the 1940s through the 1950s. http://www. ... William Maxwell Gaines (March 1, 1922–June 3, 1992), or Bill Gaines as he was called, was the founder of MAD Magazine but he was also noted for his efforts to create comic books of sufficient artistic quality and interest to appeal to adults. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ...

Educational Comics

The firm, first known as Educational Comics, was owned by Max Gaines, who published Picture Stories from the Bible and biographies of important figures from science and history in comic book form. A decade earlier, Max Gaines had been one of the pioneers of the comic book form by repackaging and distributing comic strips in 64-page pamphlets. Max Gaines (Max Charles Gaines) was the most influential figure in the creation of the comic book. ...

Entertaining Comics

When Max Gaines died in 1947 in a boating accident, his son William inherited the comics company. After four years (1942-46) in the Army Air Corps, Gaines returned home to finish school at New York University, planning to work as a chemistry teacher. He never taught but instead took over the family business. In 1949 and 1950, he began to change titles in order to introduce stories with a focus on horror, suspense, science fiction, war and crime. At the same time, Gaines and his editors, Al Feldstein and Harvey Kurtzman, gave assignments to the best freelance artists working in the field. The Army Air Corps is a vital component of the British Army. ... Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle or horrify the reader. ... One of the premier programs of the Golden Age of Radio (now known as old-time radio), Suspense advertised itself as radios oustanding theater of thrills and was heard in one form or another from 1942 through 1962. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... The United States detonated an atomic bomb over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. ... Al Feldstein (born October 24, 1925) is an American painter of Western wildlife and an influential author-editor who wrote, drew and edited for EC Comics and MAD Magazine. ... Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924 - February 21, 1993) was a U.S. cartoonist and magazine editor. ...

The firm had success with its fresh approach and pioneered in forming relationships with its readers through its letters to the editor and its fan organization, the National EC Fan-Addict Club. While the stories were sensational, the art was highly regarded and the stories always had a certain literary sheen.

EC Comics was unique in a number of ways. They promoted their stable of illustrators, allowing each to sign their art, encouraging them to develop idiosyncratic styles, and by printing one-page biographies of them in the comic books. This was in stark contrast to the industry's common practice, in which credits were often missing and generic "house styles" were the norm. As an example, Donald Duck writer-cartoonist Carl Barks was known for years as the "Good Artist" because his stories stood out from the pack, but readers had no other way of identifying his work. In EC stories, readers could easily identify the signed work of such artists as Graham Ingels, Wally Wood, Jack Davis, Johnny Craig, Bernard Krigstein, Will Elder, Harvey Kurtzman, Al Feldstein, Jack Kamen, George Evans, Joe Orlando, John Severin and Al Williamson. Other artists of note who worked for EC included Frank Frazetta, Basil Wolverton and Reed Crandall. The comics were generally written by Kurtzman, Feldstein and Craig with assistance from Gaines. Later other writers like Carl Wessler, Jack Oleck and Otto Binder were brought on board. Donald Duck is an animated cartoon and comic-book character from Walt Disney Productions. ... Carl Barks in 1942 Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was a famous Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck (1947), Gladstone Gander (1948), the Beagle Boys (1951) and Gyro Gearloose (1952). ... Graham Ingels (June 7, 1915- April 4, 1991) was a comic-book artist best known for his work at the EC Comics company in the 1950s, notably on the Al Feldstein-edited horror titles The Haunt of Fear, The Vault of Horror and Tales from the Crypt. ... Wallace Wally Wood (born June 17, 1927, Menahga, Minnesota, United States; died November 2, 1981), was an American writer-artist best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. ... Jack Davis (born December 2, 1924) is an American cartoonist and illustrator. ... Johnny Craig is an American illustrator who was born in Pleasantville, New York, in 1926. ... Bernard Krigstein, or B. Krigstein, (1919–1990) was an American artist and illustrator best known for his groundbreaking work in comic books. ... Will Elder self-portrait William Elder (aka Bill Elder) (born September 22, 1921 in the Bronx, New York) is an American illustrator and comic book artist who worked in numerous areas of commercial art yet is best known for a zany cartoon s tyle that helped launch Harvey Kurtzmans... Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924 - February 21, 1993) was a U.S. cartoonist and magazine editor. ... Al Feldstein (born October 24, 1925) is an American painter of Western wildlife and an influential author-editor who wrote, drew and edited for EC Comics and MAD Magazine. ... Jack Kamen is an illustrator who was born May 29, 1920 in Brooklyn. ... There have been a number of prominent people named George Evans: For the American congressman, see George Evans (politician) For the Australian explorer, see George Evans (explorer) For the Sergeant-Major of The Manchester Regiment awarded the Victoria Cross in World War I, see George Evans (VC) For the comic... Joe Orlando was an illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist who was born April 4, 1927, in Bari, Italy, and died December 23, 1998, in Manhattan. ... John Severin is an American comic book artist most noted for working on the EC Comics line of comic books -- primarily on Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat, the companys war comics. ... Al Williamson Al Williamson (March 21, 1931 - ) is an American cartoonist of partly Colombian descent. ... Frank Frazetta (born February 9, 1928) is one of the worlds most influential fantasy and science fiction artists. ... Powerhouse Pepper #3 (July 1948), cover art by Basil Wolverton Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978) was an American cartoonist and comic book writer-artist known for his humorously grotesque illustrations. ... Reed Crandall (February 22, 1917 - September 13, 1982) was an American illustrator and penciller of comic books and magazines. ...

Superior illustrations of stories with surprise punch endings became EC's trademark. However, the sheer volume of material required for Feldstein's titles -- four to five stories per week -- occasionally resulted in a formulaic approach. Kurtzman was a slower, more meticulous editor, which is why his comics are more highly regarded than Feldstein's and why he handled fewer titles. The neverending need for material also led to some humorous incidents, such as when Feldstein and Gaines took an excessive amount of inspiration from some short stories by science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury. Learning of the stories, Bradbury sent a note praising them, while remarking that he had "inadvertantly" not yet received his payment for their use. Charmed and relieved, EC happily sent a check and began a productive series of Bradbury adaptations. A collection of well-known science-fiction novels and magazines Science fiction (generally referred to as either Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of fiction in which at least part of the narrative depends on the impact of science, either real or imagined, to generate settings or events which... Ray Bradbury in 1945. ...

EC published distinct lines of titles under its Entertaining Comics umbrella. Most notorious were their horror books, Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror and The Haunt of Fear. These titles reveled in a gruesome joie de vivre, with grimly ironic fates meted out to many of the stories' protagonists. The company's war comics Frontline Combat and Two-Fisted Tales often featured weary-eyed, unheroic stories that were out of step with the jingoistic times. Many EC tales wrapped up with twist endings, but Crime SuspenStories and Shock SuspenStories positively reveled in them, and they became the comics' hallmark; several of the SuspenStories therein tackled weightier issues such as racism, sex, drug use and the American way of life. EC always claimed to be "proudest of our science fiction titles," and Weird Science and Weird Fantasy were certainly a step up from the standard space opera tales found in Planet Comics. Tales from the Crypt was part of Bill Gaines EC Comics line during the early 1950s. ... The Vault of Horror was part of Bill Gaines EC Comics line during the early 1950s. ... The Haunt of Fear was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. ... Entertaining Comics was headed by William Gaines but is better known by its publishing name of EC Comics. ... Entertaining Comics was headed by William Gaines but is better known by its publishing name of EC Comics. ... Crime SuspenStories was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. ... Shock SuspenStories was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. ... Weird Science was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. ... Weird Fantasy was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. ...

EC's most lasting legacy came with Mad, which started as a side project for Kurtzman before buoying the company's fortunes and becoming a remarkably significant humor publication. A sister publication, Panic, was also produced when humor magazines were the industry rage in 1954. Harvey Kurtzmans cover for the first issue of the comic book Mad Mad is an American humor magazine founded by publisher William Gaines and editor Harvey Kurtzman in 1952. ...

The three horror titles featured stories introduced by a trio of horror hosts. The Crypt Keeper was the introducer of Tales from the Crypt, the Vault Keeper of The Vault of Horror, and the Old Witch of The Haunt of Fear. Besides gleefully recounting the unpleasant details of the stories, the characters squabbled at one another, unleashed an arsenal of puns and even insulted and taunted the readers. This irreverent mockery of the audience also became the trademark attitude of Mad. Such glib, snarky give-and-take was later mimicked by many, including Stan Lee in his Marvel Comics. Stan Lee and his most famous co-creation, Spider-Man. ... Marvel Comics is an American comic book line published by Marvel Entertainment, Inc. ...

Backlash and industry conspiracy

During the 1950s, the comic book industry was drastically altered in the wake of a mass wave of public and official protest about the nature of much of the matter in the stories, as described in Dr. Fredric Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent. Adding to the problem was a heavily-touted Congressional hearing on juvenile delinquency cast comic books in an especially poor light. At the same time, a federal investigation led to a shakeup in the distribution companies that delivered comic books and pulp magazines across America. Sales plummeted, and several companies went out of business. Fredric Wertham Dr. Fredric Wertham (March 20, 1895–November 29, 1981) was a German-American psychiatrist and crusading author who protested the purportedly harmful effects of mass media—comic books in particular—on the development of children. ... First U.S. printing, 1954 First U.K. printing, 1954 Seduction of the Innocent was a book by Dr. Fredric Wertham published in 1954, that warned that comic books were a bad form of popular literature and a serious cause of juvenile delinquency. ... Flynns Detective Fiction from 1941. ...

EC Comics was hit especially hard by these events. Gaines called a meeting of his fellow publishers and suggested that the comic book industry gather together to fight outside censorship. However, his industry colleagues did the exact opposite and quickly formed the Comics Code which mandated severe oversight and restrictions on all approved comics prior to their publication. Among the Code's new rules were that no comic book title could use the words "horror" or "terror" or "weird" on its cover; it was seen as no coincidence that many of EC's top-selling comics included these words in their titles. Gaines at first refused to join the code, but when distributors then refused to handle much of his comics, Gaines had no choice but to voluntarily kill his five most popular comics - the three horror and the two Suspenstory comics. The Comics Code Authority (CCA) is an organization founded in 1954 to act as a de facto censor for American comic books. ...

Facing unending conflict, EC shifted its focus to a line of more realistic comic book titles, including M.D. and Psychoanalysis (known as the 'New Direction' line). It also watered down and renamed its remaining science fiction comic. With these changes put in place, Gaines reluctantly started submitting his comics to the Comics Code. This attempted revamp was a speedy failure. Some believe that EC's publishing woes in 1955 and 1956 were largely thanks to an unspoken blackballing of EC titles by the industry and its distributors.

The infamous final panel of Judgement Day

Gaines waged a number of battles with the Comics Code Authority, in an attempt to keep his magazines free of censorship during the later days of EC. One notable incident involved his threatening the members of the Comics Code Authority board with a lawsuit after being ordered to alter the climactic scene of the science fiction story 'Judgement Day', so that one of the characters-- a Negro astronaut-- would not be seen sweating. Gaines and others felt that the true sticking point was not the sweat, but depicting a black man as the lead pilot of a U.S. spacecraft. This aggravation, when combined with the declining sales of his remaining titles, were the leading causes for Gaines's decision to leave the comic book industry entirely. Image File history File links EC_Judgementday. ... Image File history File links EC_Judgementday. ...

With the failure of his "New Direction" comics, Gaines focused on EC's Picto Fiction magazines, black and white magazines where the artist would generally draw 1-4 panels per page and the text was overlaid onto the artwork. These also lost money from the start, and only lasted 2 issues per title. When EC's national distributor went bankrupt, it was the last straw. Gaines dropped his comic book line.

Mad and later years

Luckily, EC had found a large audience embracing its humor comics Mad and Panic. Mad always sold well throughout the company's troubles, and Gaines focused exclusively on publishing Mad in magazine form. This move was done to placate its editor Harvey Kurtzman, who had received an offer to join the magazine Pageant but preferred to remain in charge of his own magazine. More crucially, the switch had the happy result of removing Mad from the auspices of the Comics Code. While no EC comic book lasted six years, Mad has been published without interruption for over 50 years. Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924 - February 21, 1993) was a U.S. cartoonist and magazine editor. ...

Though Kurtzman did not last long with Mad after this point (leaving when Gaines wouldn't give him 51% control of the magazine), Gaines brought back Al Feldstein as his replacement. The magazine enjoyed unrivalled success for decades afterwards.

The Tales from the Crypt title was licensed for a movie in 1972, and more successfully for a TV series in the 1980s.

See also

• List of EC Comics publications

EC Comics was a major publisher of comic books in the 1940s and 1950s. ...

External links

• Horror Comics of the 1950s
• 1954 Senate Interim Report: Comic Books and Juvenile Delinquency
• The Long, Gory Life of EC Comics Reason magazine (June 2005)